Arpeggio
by DragonSlayerArts
Summary: After a serious accident robs him of his sight, Gray Fullbuster is plunged into a world of infinite darkness. As he begins losing hope for his future, a girl and her violin walk into his life, turning his world on its axis and restoring new meaning to his existence. Modern-day!AU
1. Prelude

**_Hello fanfictioners! I have had this fic idea for a while now, and I just had to write a bit of it. It's still in the works, so you'll have to excuse me for my terrible updating schedule. I'm already really bad about updating my existing stories, so... eek. I began this story against my better judgement, but I couldn't help myself. Consider this chapter the teaser chapter/trial run. I will update when I have time (no promises as to when that could be, sorry!). Any feedback is appreciated, thanks! Enjoy!_**

 ** _Note: This story pertains to blindness, so if that's a sensitive subject for you, please don't read._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. It's all property of Hiro Mashima._**

* * *

 **Prelude**

* * *

Anacrusis

-:-

 _{A "pick-up" note that leads into the first beat of the first measure in a piece of music.}_

-:-

If anybody asked Gray what his most vivid memory from before the accident was, he would awkwardly rub the back of his head and fall silent. Despite what it looked like, he wasn't exactly embarrassed by the memory itself. Rather, it was just the sheer randomness and seeming insignificance of it that made him unwilling to say it aloud. The average person simply wouldn't understand the real importance. However, if Gray ever got over his nervousness, the story went something as follows.

It was the spring of his junior year of college. Gray's car broke down, so he was carpooling with his friend Natsu. Of course, since he was technically the freeloader in the situation, Gray had to accompany Natsu on whatever errands he had to run before going home, and today's was a quick stop at the music store to buy saxophone reeds. To Gray, that was the worst part of being friends with an avid musician, especially if you weren't the most musically-inclined person to walk the earth. The musical friend practically lived at the music store, and the poor hitchhiker whose car broke down had to accompany him through the abyss of sheet music books in order to get home.

Obviously, Gray was not a musician. He never really got into it when his parents forced him to learn piano as a kid along with pretty much every other child in the country. Needless to say, he wasn't really enjoying his detour with Natsu. As the pink-haired boy rushed off to find the perfect reeds, Gray stood awkwardly in front of a rack full of what appeared to be thin green rubber noodles with holes along the sides*. He saw a violin on the packaging, and his eyebrows shot up in amazement. _The heck?_ He thought, _Where on a violin does that thing even go?_

He felt very much lost in the shop and wandered over to a few of the shinier brass instruments. A clerk came over to try and sell him something, but Gray shot him down with a disgruntled "I'm good, thanks." The brass and woodwind sections bored him out relatively quickly considering he didn't know half those instruments existed, let alone how to play them.

Wandering over to the piano section, he played a middle C and realized he couldn't remember anything beyond the C-major scale. Frustrated and thoroughly bored, Gray sat down on the piano bench to silently observe the store instead. He could see a few people in the store, nothing the clerks couldn't easily handle. Natsu was near the woodwinds looking through boxes of reeds. There was a young woman getting a flute fixed. One of the store employees walked over to the strings area, picked up a cello, and tried tuning the strings. Gray absently wondered if those things were heavy. A little boy at a neighboring piano played a piece of classical music with more talent in his pinky finger than Gray had in his whole body. However, there was one customer there who really caught Gray's eye that day.

It was a girl, around his age, standing about ten feet to his right with her back to him. She was staring intently at the violin display. She seemed ordinary enough, except for her hair. It was the most interesting shade of blue Gray had ever seen. The azure waves fell around her shoulders like water. A blue fur-lined Cossack hat sat atop her head. She stood still as a statue, a hand cupping her chin in thought. A moment later, she picked up two of the violins and walked over to the employee who was still struggling to tune the cello. Gray absently stared after her and saw her standing awkwardly by the checkout counter as she waited for the employee to finish his job. The girl stayed for a couple of minutes before giving up, returning back to the display. Setting the instruments back on the display case and leaning her back against the counter, the she pretended to occupy herself with a music book on a nearby shelf.

Gray felt a twinge of sympathy as he watched the blunette suffer through her awkwardness. Opening his mouth, he tried to come up with some light conversation to pass the time. "How long have you been playing?" He asked after some significant struggling, trying to appear nonchalant.

The girl gave a startled little jump and whirled around to face him. A pair of deep blue eyes met his dark gray ones. The girl seemed a little flustered as she looked away suddenly with a blush spreading across her cheeks. "Oh, um, about twelve years," she replied softly, eyes staring everywhere but at him. There was a drawn out pause before the girl said in barely more than a whisper, "What about you? Do you play anything?"

Gray thought back to his piano lessons as a kid and couldn't hold back a snort. The blunette before him seemed a bit startled, concerned, and confused at his reaction. Deciding to clarify, Gray said, "Learned the C scale on the piano as a five-year-old. That's about the extent of my training." The girl giggled slightly but fell silent again. Before Gray could think of another way to break the awkwardness, Natsu's screech came from the exit, "Hey, Ice Princess! If you don't get your butt over here in the next five seconds, I'm leaving without ya!"

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming," Gray grumbled. He glanced back at the girl at the counter and was surprised to find her blue eyes staring straight back. Gray felt his face flush, and he muttered a quick, "It was nice meeting you. See you around." Then he quickly followed Natsu out of the shop.

* * *

Acciaccatura

-:-

 _{"Crushing." A really fast grace note that is "crushed" against the note it's attached to so that the acciaccatura doesn't take up note value in the measure.}_

-:-

The campfire crackled merrily as it ate away at the logs. Gray stared into the depths of the flames, completely lost in thought. His gun sat next to him in the dirt, ready to be picked up at a moment's notice. All around him, his military comrades chatted and laughed, letting go of their worries for a while. In that instant, they wouldn't have looked like a military squadron at all, much less the King of Fiore's elite force, if it weren't for the camouflage tents, ATVs, and various men in uniform hanging around camp.

After college, Gray had joined the military, following in his older brother Lyon's footsteps. Now, after three years of service, he had been put in the elite squadron and was on his first major mission. They had been called in to stop a rebellion in the northern territories. Gray didn't realize just how much resentment there really was toward the king until he got there. He had done a scouting trip into a nearby town a few days earlier, dressed as a traveler. As soon as he set foot within the town's heavily armed walls, Gray knew this wouldn't be as easy as he had thought.

As the soldiers unwound after another long day, Gray couldn't bring himself to join them. He felt uneasy, and his gut instinct was not something to scoff at. As the fire slowly burned out, Gray heard a soft metallic _click_. He was up in a instant, senses on high alert. His eyes scanned the surrounding plains, and his breath caught as he saw a man dressed from head to toe in black standing at the edge of their camp. He was holding something in his hand, and Gray's eyes widened as he heard a strange hiss. "Everybody, arm yourselves! Get up!" he roared as he grabbed his assault rifle.

The next thing he knew, a sea of rebel forces flooded their camp. Everything was in chaos. The sounds of gunfire penetrated the air as Gray's troops and the rebels clashed. Gray knocked out an opponent with the butt of his gun, when a flash in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned and spotted a glinting metal object flying toward one of his comrades. Without a second thought, he forced himself into a sprint and got there right in time to push the soldier out of the way of the projectile. The metal object scored a direct hit on Gray's chest and exploded in his face.

Small pieces of shrapnel tore through his chest, face, and arms, but the worst part was the stinging pain he felt in his eyes and nose. It was one of the worst pains he had ever felt. Tear gas, he realized. A coughing fit overtook him, but Gray managed to choke out to his troops, "Clo-Close your eyes! Plug y-your noses! Get away from this area!"

"Gray!" he heard someone yell, but Gray half roared half coughed, "G-Go! NOW!" The pain in his eyes was killing him. He scrambled to his hands and knees, reaching blindly for his weapon. Tears were streaming down his face, and he coughed uncontrollably as the gas did its magic. The sound of boots and a gas mask reached his ears. A moment later, he heard the click of a gun being loaded. Gray braced himself for the end, wondering if this was really how he would die.

There was a bang and a thump as a body hit the ground. Five seconds passed, then ten, and Gray realized he was still alive. "Gray!" he heard a voice cough out as its owner entered the cloud of tear gas. Gray sensed the person crouch beside him and felt his arm getting draped across the newcomer's shoulder.

"L-Lyon, what are you doing? Get out of here!"

"I saved your life," Lyon wheezed out, "At least be a little grateful." Gray grunted, but fell silent, letting his brother tow him to the rest of the troops. They surrounded their friend and formed a sort of protective shell around him.

The fighting lasted for five hours as Gray's comrades struggled to regroup after the surprise attack. As the smoke cleared, the Fiore squadron had emerged victorious, but they also suffered heavy losses. As soon as the battle ended, Gray was carried to the infirmary tent to be treated for his injuries along with the others. The army doctor bandaged his wounds and worked on flushing out his eyes. He told Gray not to worry about the blindness as it was only temporary.

If only it was.

* * *

Down Beat

-:-

 _{An accented beat, usually the first beat in a bar of music.}_

-:-

When his friend Lucy asked, or rather ordered, him to attend the local symphony orchestra's Christmas concert, Gray didn't know what to expect. He didn't particularly enjoy Christmas music. Plus there was the fact that he couldn't even remember the last time he had gone out in public since he found out the temporary blindness was actually permanent. He always knew that blindness did not work well with the flow of day-to-day life. However, it wasn't until after he lost his vision that Gray noticed just how poorly the two truly meshed. Tasks as simple as walking out his front door suddenly became a hazard, and driving was completely out of the question. As a result, he had been dutifully avoiding the outside world for the past several months like there was a plague.

So when his blonde friend extended the invitation, his initial instinct was to refuse with the full force of the Fullbusters' stubbornness. He had crossed his arms and furrowed his brow, fully prepared to bluntly shoot down the offer. But before he could say a word against her, Lucy turned away briskly and began walking back down his driveway with a cheeky "Great! Pick you up at seven!" Gray tried to protest, but the woman simply ignored him. A minute later, he heard the starting of a car engine and realized resistance was futile.

That was how he found himself sitting in the front row of the Magnolia Performing Arts Center's concert hall, waiting for the much-anticipated Fairy Tail Symphony concert to begin. He fiddled impatiently with the tie Lucy had picked out for him as his boredom slowly increased. The blonde herself was gawking in wonder at all the supposedly marvelous decorations and describing them in excruciating detail. Gray was just about to tell her that her running commentary was not helping, when a hush fell over the packed room.

The fluorescent stage lights hummed to life, and some sort of mechanism below the stage began cranking. A moment later, awed whispers started shooting through the room. Lucy gasped in wonder, and Gray, feeling rather left out of the loop, hissed exasperatedly, "What?"

He felt Lucy lean toward his ear and whisper, "They did this really amazing thing where a platform with the orchestra on it is raised out of the stage. There are so many musicians! Oh, there's Natsu!"

Gray simply rolled his eyes at the blonde's excitement at spotting her boyfriend, the first chair saxophonist. Sitting back, he heard the musicians on stage playing random notes as they tried to tune their instruments. It had been a long time since Gray had heard any sort of music, so the sudden onslaught of somewhat dissonant sound decimated his eardrums. He gripped his ears in pain, remembering that they were in the front row and would be hearing things at this volume for the rest of the concert. He groaned at the thought and clamped his hands a little tighter over his ears.

Then, just as suddenly as it began, the orchestra's tuning, or screeching in Gray's opinion, stopped. The musicians onstage zeroed their focus in on the conductor as he set the tempo for the piece. Gray held his breath, knowing what was coming for his ears. However, the sound he heard was not what he expected. It was purely musical with no dissonance whatsoever. Gray slowly began to relax, sitting back in his seat and unblocking his ears as he allowed the dream-like strains of "O Holy Night" to wash over him.

As he listened, he noticed that the orchestra was not playing the traditional version of the song. Rather, there was a certain improvised flare to it that Gray rather enjoyed. The strings section was directly above him, so he could hear every legato, crisp, plucked, or bowed note they played with extreme acuity. The one instrument he could pick out most clearly from the group was the first violin. As the piece swelled and dipped, the violinist's distinctive part flourished around him. Gray leaned forward a little, completely entranced by the beauty of the sound. He barely registered the rest of the instruments, for all he could hear was the gentle vibrato of the stringed instrument. He was never much of a musician himself, nor was he one to judge a person's ability, but in that moment, he felt himself in the presence of a master.

As the wisps of the song's melancholy last chord faded into oblivion, the hall burst into applause. Gray's ears were ringing from Lucy's riotous cheering, but he didn't care. All he could think about was listening to the violinist play again. As the cheering subsided and the conductor set a new tempo, he inched forward in his seat once more, hoping to hear more of the talented instrumentalist before him.

Unbeknownst to Gray, Lucy could see her friend's unusually focused state and looked up at who had captured his attention. As her eyes fell upon the pretty violinist, Lucy snickered internally and thought, _Oh Gray, you're aiming high there._ The subject of Gray's interest was a woman around Lucy's age with wavy blue hair, rather like water. She looked completely in her element as her fingers flew over her instrument's wooden fingerboard, falling perfectly on each pitch. Her bow glided over the strings with practiced ease. Lucy shot one last amused look at Gray before turning her attention back to Natsu. She was barely able to hide a giggle as she noticed her pink-haired boyfriend fidgeting impatiently in his chair, waiting for his part to come up. She knew Natsu was a very talented saxophonist, but his exterior oftentimes spoke otherwise.

Meanwhile, Gray was still listening intently to the violin before him. The high-pitched, yet not unpleasantly shrill, melody seemed to speak to him in a way the other instruments, heck even the other violins, couldn't. There just seemed to be more emotion and personality conveyed within the music. However, at this point the more rational portion of his brain slowly woke from its wonder struck daze, and Gray began to absorb more of the other instruments. A moment later, he noticed he was getting excessively impressed by the one musician and snapped fully out of his trance. Sitting back in his seat, he frowned deeply and crossed his arms once more, wondering how he could have gotten so hooked. He felt a sharp pain in his ribs, and he realized Lucy had elbowed him roughly. "Ow!" He hissed, rubbing the sore spot, "What the heck, Lucy?"

"Stop frowning. You're being impolite," she chided out of the corner of her mouth.

Gray opened his mouth to defend himself, but feeling Lucy's elbow jab him again shut him up. He sat back grumpily in his seat and attempted to refocus on the music. He had to be more careful. He couldn't risk getting too caught up and making a fool of himself in public. Not even a minute passed, and Gray realized just how difficult it was to tune out the violin. It was like taking a test in school: the more you wanted to focus on one thing, the more your brain wandered back to what you didn't want to focus on in the first place.

He was concentrating so hard on blocking out the violinist that Gray barely heard the rest of the concert. Before he knew it, the last piece was over, and the crowd was rising for a standing ovation. Lucy gently pulled on his arm to get him to stand up. Gray clumsily clambered to his feet and clapped half-heartedly as well. He was pretty sure Lucy was glaring at him for his apathy. As the crowd fell into silence once more, the conductor spoke a few words of thanks for everybody's attendance and wished everybody a merry Christmas. With that, the assembly dispersed, heading toward the doors sluggishly. Lucy pulled Gray with the flow of the crowd, but as they reached the doors, Lucy whispered, "Gray, we're heading backstage right now."

"Backstage?" he asked, "Why?"

Lucy hesitated, "Well… I really want to go see Natsu and congratulate him," She stared at Gray who seemed unconvinced, "Ok, also family and friends of the musicians are invited to a reception afterwards, and Natsu invited me. I'm sorry Gray. I know you don't like social gatherings."

"Why would I?" Gray sneered bitterly, pointing toward his eyes. He then sighed, realizing how unfair he was being to Lucy, and said more politely, "I guess I have no choice but to go."

"I'm really sorry, Gray," Lucy apologized miserably, "'I'll try to make it quick."

"No, no, take your time. I'll just find a spot to sit and wait for you," Gray waved off the apology, "I now know why you chose to stuff me into a suit today though." The blonde woman giggled and tugged Gray through the sea of people.

The raven-haired man had no idea where his friend was dragging him, but a moment later, they walked through a doorway into an area with a significantly lower noise level. Gray could hear several muffled thumps and clacks to his left, where he assumed the stage with the packing orchestra was. Lucy led him a couple of steps further before turning left and going through a door.

As soon as the door opened, a roar of noise exploded out into the hall. Yelling, laughing, loud music, and even more yelling issued out as the orchestra partied inside. Gray clapped his hands over his ears and gritted his teeth, wondering how much of this he could take before his eardrums exploded. Lucy squeezed his wrist in comfort, but a moment later, a shout of "Luce!" diverted her attention away. She let go of Gray and squealed as her boyfriend appeared to greet her. Gray assumed she had gone to give Natsu a hug as she started gushing about how wonderful the concert, and more specifically he, was.

While he was happy for the couple, Gray floundered in his spot as his only guide left him. He didn't know where he was, what the terrain looked like, or where the enemy could be hiding because of the ear-splitting noise around him. An unpleasant memory of an air raid he had survived during his time in the military surfaced to the front of his mind. He felt panic slowly begin to well up within him as his past training kicked in, but he stopped as his logical side took over. "God I'm stupid," he muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets and forcing himself to calm down.

The situation he was in couldn't possibly be more different from war. He mentally punched himself at his own ridiculousness, realizing that he was in a room full of partying musicians, not in a battle. Plus, Gray couldn't rejoin the army even if he wanted to thanks to his visual impairment. He irately suppressed the traumatic memories of his past and focused on wallowing in his present predicament. There he was, alone, probably in the middle of a room packed with strangers, with no way out. _Just great_ , he thought sarcastically, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently.

A moment later, Lucy noticed Gray standing completely lost in the doorway and scrambled back over to him. Natsu followed her and broke into a big grin as he saw Gray. "Ice Princess! Long time no see!" he bellowed, clapping the raven-haired man on the back. Lucy gasped at her boyfriend's poor choice of words and punched him. Natsu yelped, "Ow! What was that for?"

"Idiot!" Lucy yelled, "You are the most insensitive person I know! Why do I even -"

"It's fine, Lucy," Gray interjected lazily. He felt her surprised gaze burning into his skull as he turned in the direction of Natsu's voice, "What do you want, Flame Brain?"

"What, I can't say hi to a friend?" Natsu asked somewhat offendedly, "Man, I'm hurt."

Gray rolled his eyes, "Yeah, hi. Whatever."

"Geez, you couldn't even pretend to be happier?" Natsu scoffed, running a hand through his salmon pink hair, "Well, it's good to see you haven't changed much."

Gray simply grunted and whispered to Lucy, "Do you mind taking me over to a chair or something? I don't want to hold you back from your socialization."

"You're not holding me back!" Lucy said angrily, slapping him on the arm, "How could you think that?"

Gray shrugged, "Well, I thought that would be nicer than saying 'I don't want to talk to people right now. Let me go wallow in my misery alone.'"

"Okay," he heard Lucy sigh, "That's fair. I guess I sort of forced you to come in the first place. Come on, Gray. Natsu, stay here. I'll be right back." The woman led him further into the room. As they weaved through the wall of people, Gray's shoulder accidentally clipped somebody else's. There was a snarl, and he suddenly felt himself being dragged around to face whoever he had hit. Instinctively, Gray raised his fists to defend himself.

"What was that for, punk?" growled the man in front of him. The voice was low and gravelly, the kind of voice that just naturally sounded like a growl.

"I'm very sorry," Gray said, raising his hands soothingly, "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Save it," the man said, popping his knuckles threateningly, "I'm not gonna stand here and take your lame excuses." Gray braced himself for a punch that would never come.

A voice a little further in the crowd had gasped, cutting the vengeful man off, "Gajeel-kun! What are you doing?"

Gray's head whipped up in the direction of the voice. There was something oddly familiar about it, but he couldn't quite put his thumb on where he had heard it before. The man in front of Gray muttered grumpily, "What, Juvia? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"You can't go around punching people!" the new-comer cried indignantly, "What did that man do to you?"

"Tch," the so-called Gajeel scoffed, "This asshole ran into me and tried to make some stupid excuse about not seein' me. I'm just teachin' him a lesson."

"That's no reason to punch him!" the woman sighed before addressing Gray, "Juvia is terribly sorry about her friend. He has such a quick temper and reacts so violently that it even takes Juvia by surprise sometimes."

"It's fine," Gray mumbled, not quite sure how to respond to that.

"Let's go, Gajeel-kun," Juvia demanded, "You've caused enough trouble for today." Gajeel tried to protest, but Juvia was already pulling him away. The two disappeared back into the sea of party-goers, leaving Gray and Lucy to blink in confusion at what had just transpired.

After a moment, Lucy snapped out of her shock and brought Gray the rest of the way to his seat. She plopped him down on a ratty leather couch and asked, "You sure you're going to be all right, Gray?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Gray rolled his eyes, "Go have fun. Just don't forget about me when you leave."

Lucy giggled and said, "I'll try not to. Call me if you need anything, okay? See you later." She walked away to find Natsu again. Gray just sighed and pulled his out-of-date flip phone from his pocket, trying to act occupied by something on the screen he couldn't even see. A minute turned into ten, then half an hour had passed. Gray was slowly nodding off to sleep, but a sudden dipping of the couch cushion beside him jostled him awake. His head shot up, eyes darting around out of instinct if not practicality.

"Oh, Juvia is so sorry to startle you!" The woman from earlier said. Gray, recognizing the voice, relaxed a little and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"It's fine," he said, throwing her a crooked grin, "Thank you for earlier."

"O-oh, it was nothing," the girl sounded somewhat flustered, much to Gray's bewilderment, "Gajeel-kun has trouble controlling his temper sometimes, so Juvia always has to keep an eye on him."

Gray smiled, well more like smirked, slightly but with more happiness than he'd mustered in months. "Well thanks again," he said with genuine gratefulness.

"You're w-welcome...uh." The woman trailed off, leaving an unasked question lingering in the air.

Gray furrowed his brow in confusion before he realized what was being asked, and he replied, "Gray, Gray Fullbuster."

"Juvia Lockser. Nice to meet you… Gray-sama," Juvia hesitated at his name, seemingly testing it out before she said it. Gray felt a little odd at the honorific and scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. He failed to notice the anticipating silence that had filled the air until he heard a sad sigh come from Juvia. Gray panicked and immediately straightened, wondering if his uncertain countenance was making her upset.

"What? What is it? Are you all right, Juvia?" He asked worriedly, sensing how hurt she seemed.

"Juvia is fine," she mumbled, "Does Gray-sama not do handshakes?"

Gray's brain stopped dead in its tracks for a moment before he snorted in amusement and embarrassment, "I apologize for my rudeness. I wasn't able to see your hand."

"I'm sorry?" Juvia asked tentatively, unsure of what exactly the man meant.

"I'm blind," Gray said bluntly.

Juvia backtracked immediately as she heard his reason, "Oh dear, Juvia is sorry. She had no idea."

Gray simply waved off her apologies and said, "It's fine. Don't apologize, okay?"

The two descended into a somewhat awkward silence after that. Juvia withstood the discomfort for approximately three minutes before she blurted out, "So, friend or family?"

Gray cocked his head in confusion, "Come again?"

"What Juvia means is," the woman said disjointedly. Gray could hear the uncertainty oozing from her voice, "Are you a family member of one of our orchestra members? Or a friend?"

Gray chuckled and leaned back into the couch cushions, tilting his face up toward the ceiling, "To be honest, neither. I'm more like a friend to his girlfriend and a frenemy to him."

"Oh, who is he?" Juvia asked out of curiosity, "I didn't know any of the men in the group were in relationships."

"Natsu Dragneel," Gray rolled his eyes, "he's the..."

"First chair saxophonist," he and Juvia said simultaneously. Gray lifted an eyebrow amusedly, "I take it you know him, then?"

"Yes," The woman said, "Juvia knows all of the members of the orchestra, since we're not that big of a group and we're all really good friends. Natsu-san is a bit on the… rowdier side."

"Tch," Gray scoffed, "That's the understatement of the century." Juvia giggled. They fell into a more comfortable silence. After a moment, Gray asked, "So, what do you play, Juvia?" She seemed a little surprised that he asked her that, judging by her sharp intake of breath. Gray made a mental note to question her about reaction that someday.

"Violin… first chair," she said shyly, yet with a tinge of pride. She tapped something, which Gray assumed was her violin case, and laughed softly, "But Juvia still has a long way to go."

Gray thought back to the concert, realizing she was the violinist with whom he was so mesmerized. He blushed and snorted at the woman's modesty, "I object to that. I might not be able to see, but I sure as hell could hear what was right in front of me. And you sounded damn good." The violinist seemed to struggle for words for a moment. Gray lifted an eyebrow and turned his head in her direction confusedly, "You good, Juvia?"

She cleared her throat awkwardly and stammered, "Y-Yeah, thank you G-Gray-sama."

Gray furrowed his brow, "Just Gray is fine."

"Well J-Juvia likes 'Gray-sama' better," Juvia replied nervously. She seemed hesitant to argue with him, but she stood her ground. Gray respected that.

"Okay, whatever you like," he sighed, giving in to her request. She had a backbone, even if she was a bit shy and overly modest, "Just don't expect me to call you anything other than Juvia."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Juvia replied. Gray didn't even need to see the smile on her face to know that it was there and that it was bright.

* * *

 ** _So, how was it? Love it? Hate it? Leave a review and tell me what you think ;). I wrote this over Christmas break, so that's why Gray's going to a Christmas concert. But it's never too late for Christmas, right?_**


	2. Overture

**Hello friends! I'm back with the 2nd installment of Arpeggio! Thank you so much for all your support for the first chapter. Hope you enjoy this one as well!**

 **Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

 _ **Overture**_

* * *

Amabile

-:-

 _{Amiable, pleasant}_

-:-

Two months had passed since the Christmas concert, and life had moved on, it seemed, for everyone in the world except Gray. Natsu had proposed to Lucy on New Year's. Their wedding was scheduled for the summer. Gray got a call from Lyon the other day, which was basically Lyon gloating to him about his promotion to the rank of Brigadier General. Even Gray's neighbors, a kind middle-aged woman named Bisca and her daughter Asuka, had rung his doorbell asking if he would like to order the cookies Asuka's first grade class was selling. Gray didn't even know the little girl could walk yet, let alone be in the first grade already. Witnessing the happiness and growth of the people around him made his own life feel that much sadder. He didn't notice nearly as much progress there. If anything, Gray had regressed. It felt like the world had changed on him in a split second. Now, his whole existence was reduced to trying to figure out those changes and how to adjust.

Granted, Gray had managed to secure a stable at-home job as a journalist for an online news site. All Gray had to say about that was thank God college had made him fluent at typing without looking. And that he had Lucy as a friend since she was willing to proofread all his stuff before his deadlines. However, because of the added-on responsibility of his new job, Gray found himself out in public even less than before, if that was even possible. He knew Lucy hated it. Natsu had even called begging him to go out so Lucy would stop complaining and quote, "being a weirdo about it."

Gray had simply grumbled back, "She's your girlfriend. Deal with it. I got work to do." He left the phone on long enough to hear Natsu splutter, "At least pretend to be sympathetic, you jer-!" Gray ended the call before Natsu could bother him even more and shoved his phone into his pocket, turning back to his computer and the Word document he had been writing on.

That was a week ago. Since then, Lucy's persistent calls had increased exponentially, much to Gray's displeasure. She had even terminated her offer to proofread his articles in an attempt to get him away from his work and go to the mall with her. He called his boss to double his workload after hearing her suggestion.

Gray's phone rang (again), startling him out of his thoughts. He grabbed it from his desk and answered, "Hello?" desperately wishing it wasn't Lucy (again). No, it was worse.

"Hey, Ice Princess!" Natsu's voice issued from the speaker. Gray could feel the vein on his forehead inflating already.

"What do you want, Flame Brain?" Gray growled, not in the mood to deal with his frenemy so early on a Saturday morning. Gray told him as much, and Natsu scoffed. "Seriously, what is it?" Gray asked grumpily after a brief verbal smack down.

"All right, all right," Natsu said. There was a pause, and Gray was about to snap at him to just spit it out already, when Natsu blurted out, "Be at your house in five!" The call ended immediately after that, leaving Gray in a stunned silence. The stream of words had come at Gray so fast that he didn't comprehend what Natsu said until the call had long ended. Gray cursed.

True to his word, Natsu rang the doorbell almost exactly five minutes later. Gray got up from his chair and trudged to the door as slowly as he could possibly go. The moment the door opened, Natsu barged in and shouted, "We're going to the performing arts center, right now. Hurry up and put on some clothes, Stripper!"

Gray brought a hand to his collar and realized with a start that he hadn't bothered to put on a shirt that morning. Not wanting to take Natsu's bait, he scoffed, "I'm not going."

"Oh yes you are!" A woman's voice thundered threateningly from beside him. Gray jumped, shaking in fear as he recognized the voice. He gulped, remembering the beating he had taken when he last heard that tone.

"E-Erza!" He squeaked, "H-How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Erza's voice softened a little, but it immediately turned hard as nails again when she said, "I should be asking you that."

"I'm fine," Gray mumbled, ducking his head away from her intense stare, "Why don't you come in? I'll be down in a minute." He retreated back into his house, not bothering to wait for his friends to walk in. Slowly but confidently, he strode to the stairs, grabbing a hold of the now familiar and well-worn banisters. Using the rail as a guide, Gray stomped upstairs to his room. Flipping through his drawers, he found a collared shirt that he assumed was clean and pulled it on. He changed out of his pajama bottoms as well and threw on a tie. For once, he was thankful for his boring gray, black, and white wardrobe. It made coordinating outfits a non-issue, so he could go out in public without worrying about looking like a clown.

He shuffled back down to his living room where he heard Erza and Natsu talking and leaned lazily against the doorframe. "Are we going or not?" he frowned impatiently, crossing his arms to further express his displeasure.

"What's got you in such a bad mood?" Natsu asked.

"You," Gray sneered. He felt that maybe he was being a bit unfair to them (they were just trying to help him), but that didn't excuse the fact they just barged into his house on his day off demanding he go to their rehearsal, "Why are you carpooling with Erza anyway? You get your license revoked or something?"

"Tch," Natsu scoffed, "I'm not that bad of a driver. Erza mentioned coming over to get you to go to rehearsals, and I figured I should come along to save your sorry ass when you do something to tick her off."

"What makes you think I'm gonna make her mad? Are you implying I'm as dense and unperceptive of other people's emotions as you are?" Gray growled, popping his knuckles threateningly.

Natsu snarled, "Considering I'm getting married in three months, I'm at least three times more perceptive to emotions than you are. Are you looking for a fight, Ice Princess? "

"What if I am?" Gray smirked, feeling a bit of the old adrenaline coursing through his body. He had raised his fists, readying himself for the punch he knew would be coming. But Erza stepped in before the fight could start.

"Boys," she said threateningly. Both Natsu and Gray cowered in fear at her tone. "There will be no fighting as long as I'm here. Got it?" Erza commanded, pulling both men away from each other by their shirt collars. Both Natsu and Gray straightened and saluted her sharply. After a moment, Gray felt an unfamiliar tugging at the corner of his mouth. With a jolt of shock, he realized he was smiling a real smile. _Maybe this won't be too bad_ , he thought as Erza grabbed his hand and guided him carefully out to her car.

When Erza checked the time before driving off, she let out a frantic yelp, "We're late! How did that happen?"

"I don't know! It was probably because Ice Prick here wasted so much time whining!" Natsu accused.

"Don't pin the blame on me!" Gray scowled, "It's not my fault your time management skills are subpar."

Natsu growled lowly, and Erza quickly interjected, "Natsu, Gray! Behave. You better make sure you're buckled in. We will have to step on it if we want to make it there on time." With that as their only warning, Erza gunned the gas pedal, and the car shot down the road. Gray was thrown backward into his seat, his head making an unfortunate thump as it connected with the headrest behind him. From the front, he could tell Natsu wasn't faring much better. The pink-haired man let out a string of curses as the driving smoothed out a little bit.

"What the hell, Erza?" He roared, "What are you trying to do?"

"Shut up, Natsu," Erza ground out, "I need to focus."

"Yeah, focus on not getting us killed, will ya?" Natsu muttered. Suddenly, the car swerved violently to the side before leveling out again. Gray yelped as he was almost thrown into the seat next to him. Erza uttered a quick apology, then proceeded to slam on the brakes as hard as she could. Natsu face planted into the dashboard with a loud thump and another curse. Gray heard a slight scraping noise from Natsu's spot and a muffled thunk. He assumed his friend had grabbed onto the car's assist handle for dear life. Gray quickly followed suit, going along with the Flame Brain's ideas for once.

After about five minutes of Erza's horrific driving, they screeched to a halt in the performance center's parking lot. Natsu stumbled out of the passenger seat, and Gray heard some retching noises coming from the him a few feet to his right. Erza herself stepped lightly down from the car, acting completely unaffected. She calmly grabbed Gray's arm and pulled him along to get her cello. "Great, we're here fifteen minutes early," she said happily.

"Then why did you feel the need to drive like a maniac the whole way here?" Natsu screeched from his spot retching by some bushes. He immediately started heaving again after he uttered the last word.

"I misread the time," Erza deadpanned.

Natsu groaned as he slowly trekked toward his two friends, "I haven't been carsick since high school, but I think you just made it come back."

"Oh, man up," Gray grumbled. Natsu's whining was really getting on his nerves. But Gray grudgingly agreed with him in this situation. The trio entered the building and headed down the hall. They walked for a while in silence before they reached the practice room. As soon as they walked in, Natsu took off in some random direction. A few steps in and the saxophonist stumbled over something and yelped. Gray felt Erza's hand tighten around his arm.

"What?" Gray muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

Erza relaxed her grip slightly and replied, "I forgot how cramped this room is. You'll have to be really careful where you step. Also, there might not be a spot for you to sit."

"Great," Gray said, the sarcasm practically dripping from his voice.

"Watch it, Gray!" Erza snapped. Gray cowered slightly in fear.

However, he was saved from his punishment by a familiar voice calling, "Erza-san, Gray-sama!" Gray could feel his ears redden under the look he imagined Erza was giving him. He had forgotten that nobody else had heard her call him that or even knew that they had met.

"You two have met?" Erza asked brusquely, a tinge of suspicion lacing her voice as she nudged Gray.

He blanched and nodded mutely. Juvia hummed in affirmation, "Yes, we talked a little when Gray-sama came to the after party at our Christmas concert."

Gray braced himself for the inevitable question as to why Juvia used the honorific, but was pleasantly surprised when she said, "Gray, you attended our Christmas concert and the after party… And you didn't even bother to say hello to me!" Erza roared the last part and grabbed Gray's ear. He hissed in pain before rambling off some unimpressive excuse. Juvia flitted about them, uncertain whether to brave Erza's wrath to save Gray or run for her life.

"U-Um, Erza-san," Juvia finally piped up, "I think you are hurting Gray-sama." Gray's attention was diverted momentarily away from the pain in his ear at hearing the valiant attempt to save him. He was quite grateful, but he doubted it would do much for him. However, lo and behold, Erza immediately released him, blurting out an apology. Gray was too shocked to do anything besides nod. Normally, it would have taken no less than the apocalypse for Erza to release a victim. Then, Gray thought back to what Juvia had said. _I think you are hurting Gray-sama._ Right, he almost forgot. Having a disability automatically made him weak in the eyes of society _._ And it seemed Erza, whether consciously or subconsciously, subscribed to that viewpoint. Suddenly, the gratefulness evaporated to be replaced by a cold numbness in the pit of his stomach. Gray was reminded once again why he resented his injury so much. For the first time in his life he had to rely on other people. It wasn't a feeling he enjoyed, being vulnerable. Having other people point it out made it even worse. A frown made its way onto his face.

"Gray? Are you okay?" Erza asked in concern.

Gray forced his lips to curl into a thin smile, and he nodded absentmindedly, his sad attempt at a grin fading instantly. The earlier thought that maybe he was being a bit unfair resurfaced in his mind. He could tell that Erza and Juvia were simply caring for his wellbeing. But he needed some time to be angry. Thinking back on all his friends had been doing for him in the past few months, Gray realized just how tough that plan might actually be.

* * *

Pizzicato

-:-

 _{To play a string instrument by plucking the strings.}_

-:-

"Um, Erza-san? I think you are hurting Gray-sama."

It was an innocent enough question, but Gray obviously didn't think so. Juvia watched worriedly as the man's mouth twitched downward instantly. Even Erza noticed the change. Juvia paled, wondering why that would be a touchy sentence for him, as Gray plastered on the fakest smile she had ever seen. She continued to stare at Gray, hoping that by looking at him, she could figure out everything that was going on in his mind. After the longest few seconds of awkward silence, Erza cleared her throat, "Well, look at the time. Practice starts in ten minutes. Gray, we need to get you a seat." Gray grunted but said nothing.

Juvia hesitated at his noticeably displeased demeanor. She suggested nervously after a minute, "Oh, one of the second violins is out sick. You can sit beside me if you would like." Gray's frown momentarily returned, but he schooled his features into a more composed expression so quickly Juvia wondered whether she had imagined the whole thing. He gave a curt nod and extended an arm to Erza discreetly. Erza immediately grabbed his arm and turned him around. Scanning their surroundings, she gave Juvia a questioning glance. Juvia understood the unasked question and pointed to the seat along the front row of chairs, immediately to the right of the conductor's stand. Erza gave her a curt nod and was about to lead Gray over when a devilish look crossed her face. Juvia frowned, knowing that that look could lead to no good. Erza stopped in her tracks, ignored Gray's confused exclamation, and said with a huge grin, "Oh, I'm sorry Gray. The violins are on the opposite side of the room to me. Plus, the cello section is too packed to lead you through. Why don't you go with Juvia? Juvia, is that all right with you?"

"Um," the violinist hesitated as she saw the corners of Gray's mouth dip downward at the redhead's suggestion. For whatever reason, Gray was unhappy, and whatever Juvia said had something to do with it. Juvia frowned slightly. She didn't want him to feel more uncomfortable than he already was or to dislike her more than he already did. But to be honest, she didn't particularly care about dealing with hypersensitive drama queens either. However, Juvia realized that maybe she was generalizing too quickly. He was there against his will, after all. If she were in that situation, she couldn't see herself being half as gracious. Swallowing her pride, Juvia smiled, "Sure!" She gently hooked her arm through his, grabbing his wrist as well with her other hand. He fidgeted slightly. She could feel her own cheeks reddening, but whether in embarrassment or irritation, she didn't know.

"Come on, tread carefully," she warned him, shaking off her discomfort and lightly tugging Gray along, "You can never be sure whether there will be a stray case or instrument in the way."

"Yeah," Gray muttered. He stared resolutely ahead, not saying anything else. Juvia watched his (admittedly handsome) face morph back into a bored mask. She could feel a little twinge of irritation at Gray's bad mood but brushed it off. He had his reasons.

Juvia got Gray situated in his spot before moving to unpack her violin. She was tightening up her bow when the tip accidentally poked Gray in the shoulder. Before Juvia even realized what had happened, Gray flinched and leapt out of his chair. He lowered himself into a fighting stance as though on autopilot, his blinded eyes darting back and forth fruitlessly. The sudden motion attracted the attention of every musician in the room, who stopped what they were doing to stare. Juvia's eyes widened, and she gently tugged the man down while glaring menacingly at their audience. The other musicians instantly looked away, not accustomed to such a threatening look on the generally sweet violinist's face. The blunette turned back toward a now-seated Gray, mind buzzing with thoughts about why he reacted the way he did. Mustering up the courage, Juvia quit her wild guessing and asked quietly, "Are you okay, Gray-sama? Juvia didn't mean to startle you."

Gray's tense body got even more rigid, and he said, "Y-Yeah. Sorry, that reaction was uncalled for."

Juvia felt her eyebrows twitch angrily. How could he just brush it off so easily? Obviously there was something wrong. His behavior was really plucking at her nerves. However, she took a calming breath and said gently, yet slightly more demandingly, "This might be too much to ask, considering we barely know each other, but sometimes talking to someone helps. I'm definitely here whenever you might want to speak up."

Gray's jaw tightened, but the rest of his body relaxed considerably. "Thanks," he mumbled uncertainly. Juvia 'hmm'ed in response. The more she spoke to him, the more she came to understand that the little things with Gray are what truly matter. For that reason, she came to view that short display of gratitude as a monumental success on her part.

Juvia almost jumped out of her skin as a loud crash emanated from the closet beside her. A gruff curse followed immediately, and she calmed down, recognizing the voice and foul language. Gajeel stepped out a moment later with a guitar pick clamped between his teeth, his bass guitar in one hand, and a dented cymbal in the other. Juvia began giggling involuntarily at the sight of her best friend. The so-called Black Steel Gajeel glared halfheartedly at her before his eyes landed on Gray. Gajeel scowled, "You're that punk who ran into me a while back. What're you doin' here?"

"Listening to you practice. What else?" Gray responded, a frown marring his face.

Juvia watched worriedly, knowing that Gajeel didn't take back-talk well. As a tense silence enveloped the pierced man, she was preparing a plan as to how she would restrain him if he chose to attack Gray. A minute passed away in silence, then Gajeel grunted, "Good to know," before slouching over to his post. Juvia didn't know whether to sigh in relief or smack him for pointlessly dragging out the tension.

 _Leave it to Gajeel-kun to over-dramatize everything,_ Juvia rolled her eyes. However, she smiled when she realized what he had said. In his own distinct way, Gajeel was showing respect. Juvia had told him the reason Gray had run into him that day. Gripped with a sense of pride for Gajeel, Juvia rested her violin under her chin and drew her bow across the open strings to tune her instrument. As soon as the sound connected with her ears, all traces of worry and exhaustion vanished from her mind. She adjusted a few of her tuning pegs, played a few scales, then glanced over quickly at Gray. Juvia did a double take. There was something distinctly different about him. It took her a second, but Juvia realized it was because of the contented smile plastered to his face.

Nearly-forgotten memories of their conversation two months ago flooded into her mind, at the forefront of which was the image of that smile. That nearly imperceptible tilt at the corners of Gray Fullbuster's mouth that made Juvia's heart skip happily and made her smile right along with him. That smile that she couldn't quite get out of her head for a good month, even when the rest of their conversation had practically vanished from her mind. In her opinion, when such a simple smile could considerably brighten the world, the person underneath must be worth knowing. Juvia was intrigued.

A sharp rapping sound in front of her snapped her out of her thoughts. Her head shot up so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash. The pounding of her heart slowly subsided when she noticed it was just Makarov catching the band's attention. Everybody lifted their instruments, prepared to start playing. However, Makarov looked at Gray curiously instead. "If it isn't Gray! How long has it been since you last visited, boy?" At the name "Gray," the entire orchestra collectively gasped before erupting into conversation.

"Gray? Is he really?"

"I didn't even recognize him, but I can see it."

"Wow, he's really grown up! But so have we, I guess."

"Yeah, he was always hanging out with Natsu and them back in high school. He'd come with them and listen in on our youth symphony practices all the time. Stopped coming around his sophomore year though."

Juvia was surprised. She never would have thought that Gray knew the band so well. She was one of the newest members of Fairy Tail, having joined just three years ago, and it seemed this was one of the many things she still had to learn about the orchestra. Juvia glanced back over at Gray to find him hunkered down in his chair, looking completely uncomfortable with the attention. Juvia frowned. Gray didn't show even a hint of happiness that his former friends remembered him. By the way he was acting, you would think he didn't remember any of them at all. Disapproval flooded her mind, but Juvia contained it. She knew there was more to the story.

"Hey Gramps," Gray muttered through the sea of voices, "Sorry for not stopping by much. How are you?"

Makarov laughed, "I'm messing with you. I understand you brats are busy with your own lives. Don't have to tell me that. I'm pretty much the same as always, getting old." He groaned exaggeratedly for emphasis. Gray snorted, and Juvia, who had listened in, barely restrained a giggle. "What about you, Gray? You've grown into a fine young man. What have you been up to?" Makarov asked.

Juvia could practically see the tension returning to Gray at the question. She realized that Makarov had unintentionally touched upon a sensitive topic, and it seemed the old conductor noticed that too. He immediately started backtracking, "B-but of course you don't have to answer t-that. I was just cur-curious!"

"Nah, it's fine, Gramps," Gray waved it off stiffly, "I can tell ya." Makarov listened intently. "Well, I joined the army after college," Gray began.

"Why, that's wonderful, my boy! Are you back in Magnolia on vacation?" Makarov asked with a fatherly grin. Gray grimaced. Another touchy question.

"No," Gray mumbled, "See I got in a bit of an accident…"

Juvia watched at Makarov's expression morphed into one of total concern. She was amazed at how much love the old man was able to hold in his heart for each and every person he had ever met. "What? What happened, Gray? Are you okay now?" Makarov prompted frantically.

Juvia could tell Gray was getting frustrated. His jaw was clenched, and he seemed unsure whether to cry or yell. After a moment of internal struggle, he chose the second option, "I got hit by a damn teargas grenade, okay! It was about to hit a comrade! What was I supposed to do? According to the doctor it exploded too close to my face and caused permanent damage to... My vision never came back." His voice was trailing away slowly through his entire bitter rant, ending in barely more than a whisper. But it was enough to resonate around the room.

For the third time that day, the entire orchestra hushed to focus solely on Gray. The silence extended for a year? A decade? A minute? It seemed like an eternity and a half had passed before somebody started to clap slowly. Juvia glanced back to find Natsu rising to his feet respectfully. Then Erza stood, with unshed tears glistening in her eyes. Juvia followed suit, then the rest of the orchestra rose as one, following the other three's example. The thunder of solemn applause and the scraping of chairs filled the air. Soon, everybody in the room besides Gray was on his or her feet. Gray seemed to be holding back tears at the unified show of respect. The clapping soon faded away, and silence enveloped them once more. "Thanks guys," Gray whispered so softly only Juvia heard him.

"You're welcome," she murmured equally softly, a small smile upon her face. Juvia saw a small smirk make its way onto Gray's lips and nearly whooped with joy. She tentatively rested her hand on Gray's arm, noting with a little disappointment that he tensed up immediately and pulled away.

"Hey, what's the point in us moping? Let's get this practice started!" Natsu roared, finally getting fed up with the solemn silence.

"Of all the insensitive-!" Erza snarled angrily from her spot in front of Natsu. Juvia looked back to find her brandishing her cello bow, fully prepared to whack Natsu over the head with it.

Juvia's eyes widened in concern, and she called across the room at the duo, "Erza-san, please don't hurt Natsu-san!" Erza paused mid-swing. Natsu sighed in relief. Since Juvia was turned around in her seat, she failed to notice Gray's head whip around to face her in surprise. She did, however, notice Erza set down her bow to cuff Natsu about the ears none-too-gently with her arm. Natsu yelped and stood up angrily.

"Okay, children!" Makarov interjected before the situation got out of hand, "Natsu, sit down." The pink-haired man sat. "Now, warmups," the old man continued without missing a beat. He raised his arms and set the tempo. As one, the musicians straightened themselves in their seats, lifting their instruments to their ready positions. On the first downbeat, Juvia started her standard B-flat major scale. Her fingers fell on each well-practiced note, her synchronized bow dancing over the strings. Makarov barked out a rhythm variation for the scale, and the orchestra flowed into the new pattern seamlessly. They repeated several more tempo and rhythm patterns before Makarov halted their flow of music and instructed, "Good, everybody please take out the Harry Potter Suite, and start from the top. Hopefully it's not as big of a disaster as it was two days ago."

Juvia grimaced, recalling their last practice when they had played so badly that the old conductor was nearly reduced to tears. Pulling out her music, she skimmed her part quickly, reorienting herself with the structure of the piece. Makarov set the speed, and Juvia positioned her bow lightly on the strings of her violin. She listened as the ethereal bell-like chimes of the celeste formed the iconic opening of _Hedwig's Theme_. Freed's green hair bobbed against his back as his fingers flew across the rare instrument's keyboard.

Juvia counted the measures in her head until her part came up. Her first notes began almost imperceptibly, slowly gaining strength as the piece progressed. The elaborate composition forced Juvia to fully engage her body and mind as she struggled to keep up with the odd time signature and her complex fingerings. Like it usually happened, Juvia's initial nervousness passed within a minute, and she found herself beginning to enjoy herself. Her fingers glided over the fingerboard pretty much on their own. The fingerings, though complicated, were well-suited for the violin; the notes fell under her fingertips with relative ease. As they played, Juvia was once again reminded of why she loved to listen to music so much. It had the power to transport you to separate worlds after just a few measures. She could practically see Hogwarts in her mind's eye. Playing music is even more rewarding as each instrument contributes its own unique flair to the final masterpiece.

Before she knew it, the piece had ended, and Juvia leaned back into her chair, shaking out her overworked hand. She took that chance to glance at Gray and barely restrained a giggle at his face. It seemed he was torn between looking awed and remaining stoic. The resulting expression appeared rather tentatively impressed. Juvia could easily picture the same expression on the face of a harsh food critic who had finally met his match.

"Like it?" Juvia asked amusedly.

"Amazing," Gray nodded, giving up on trying to appear unimpressed as he knew it to be an impossible task, "How are you able to play like that?"

"Years and years of practice," Juvia said solemnly, "Does Gray-sama know how to play an instrument?"

"Haven't even touched one since I was five, and that was to punch my piano before I quit," he said sheepishly, running his hand through his hair nervously.

Juvia giggled, "Don't let Freed-san hear you say that. He loves his pianos more than people sometimes." Suddenly, she gasped, "Wait, Gray-sama, have we met before?"

She watched as an imaginary light bulb seemed to go off in Gray's head. She wracked her own memory in an effort to remember where she knew him from. Then, it clicked. "You were the person at the music store!" they blurted out simultaneously.

Juvia giggled, "That's crazy. If I remember, Natsu-san was there too. Were you with him?"

"Yeah, the idiot was giving me a lift cuz my car broke down," Gray snorted.

"Wow, it really is a small world. I think I was getting a newer, better quality violin for my audition for Fairy Tail. A beaten-up decade-old violin wouldn't make the right impression on one of the best symphonies in the nation," Juvia said, eyes widening as she realized the interconnectedness of the whole thing was far greater than she initially knew.

Their conversation was cut off by Makarov who rapped the stand sharply once more. The musicians jumped. The multiple conversations in the room were effectively ended. "Quiet!" Makarov demanded, "Go back to measure 20. Something sounded a little off."

* * *

Andante

-:-

 _{A tempo indicator meaning "walking."}_

-:-

 _He was running. That's all he knew. Gray had no clue why or to where he was running. His heart beat a frantic rhythm in his chest as the adrenaline coursing through him did its job. Looking up, Gray found that he was sprinting in near total darkness. The only light in sight came from above him through two holes shaped like italicized f's set wide apart from each other. The sound of his feet hitting wood with each stride echoed around him. Gray's breath came in labored pants as his lungs struggled to keep up with his body. His strength was failing, but he had to keep going. He pushed himself further, mustering up every last dreg of energy in his muscles. But it was no use. It seemed no matter how much he ran, he still ended up stuck in the murky darkness with the light taunting him from above, so close yet so inaccessible._

 _The patter of his feet slowed gradually, coming to a complete stop a moment later as Gray realized there was no point in running. Why waste so much energy travelling on a road to nowhere? He flopped down onto his back, breathing hard, staring bitterly at the f-shaped openings overhead. Suddenly, he felt the entire floor jolt upward. Whatever he was currently trapped in was moving. The expansive room jolted again, but horizontally this time. Gray was pitched through the air, his flight ending when he was smacked hard against a wall. He groaned, more out of reflex than actual pain. Unfortunately, his ordeal didn't end there. The compartment shifted once more, and Gray found himself falling through thin air this time. He landed on his back against another wooden wall. He was barely able to recover the breath that got knocked out of him before the compartment turned again, and he crashed back into the wall he started on. The room reversed again… and again… and again. Gray could distantly hear peals of obnoxious laughter, laughter he would recognize anywhere... Natsu's?_ _A stern voice cut off the laughing. Unintelligible words drifted into Gray's isolated prison before he was thrust forward once more. The room tipped upside-down again, but instead of hitting the hard wall, Gray fell toward a light._

 _It was the f-hole. Gray barely registered what was happening before he fell through the gap and into the bright unknown. Expecting to keep falling before ending up as a splatter on a random floor, Gray was pleasantly surprised when he landed on something soft. He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the onslaught of light. Looking around, he noticed he was sitting on a hand. Taking in more of his new surroundings, Gray found himself face to face with a huge pair of deep, sapphire blue eyes. He jumped to his feet in alarm and scrambled as far away as possible without falling off his support. From his new vantage point, Gray was able to see the entire face those eyes belonged to. Waves of azure hair tumbled around the girl's shoulders. A hat plopped on her head. From a distance, her eyes were no longer threatening. Rather, a glimmer of curiosity was reflected within their depths. "Have we met before?" she asked, her voice possessing an oddly familiar, musical quality._

 _Then it hit him: the girl he met in the music store. What was her name again…?_

"Juvia," Gray mumbled, rolling over in his bed. He nearly fell back asleep, when he realized something with a start. Shooting up, his eyes widened, and his heart rate increased twofold. He had remembered. Everything seemed so clear now; it was a wonder he had forgotten in the first place. Her eyes, her hair, her nose, mouth, smile. His mind's eye was flooded with the memory of Juvia Lockser's face. The face he had been trying to recall for the past four months, ever since that practice where he found out they'd met before. The worst part about meeting people and not being able to see them was that you had no clue what they looked like. But now, that issue was solved at least for one person.

His moment of triumph over, Gray flopped back down onto his bed in exhaustion. His alarm had yet to go off, so he could safely assume that it was before seven o'clock. Realizing he would not get back to sleep no matter how hard he tried, Gray groaned and lugged himself out of bed. He pulled on the first articles of clothing he could find and stumbled to his bathroom to get ready. His alarm went off as he was shaving, causing him to jump and nick himself with the razor. Cursing up a storm, Gray rinsed off the shaving cream still stuck on his face and scrambled around for a towel to mop up the blood he could already feel streaming down his face. He applied pressure to his cut before stumbling back to his room. Gray located his phone and pressed the button that he knew turned off the infernal beeping. Letting out a sigh of relief, Gray enjoyed a literal minute of peace before his doorbell rang.

Gray groaned in annoyance and marched downstairs, wrenching his front door open. "What?" He growled, not in the mood to be dealing with visitors at the moment. He heard a small gasp come from whoever was at the door. "Who is this. What do you want?" he snarled impatiently.

"Oh, um, good morning, Gray-sama," Juvia's voice replied.

Gray's eyebrows shot up, "Juvia? What are you doing here? How did you get my address?"

"Ah, sorry to intrude…" Juvia trailed off uncertainly. Gray tilted his head in confusion before he realized why she sounded so nervous. Here she was at seven in the morning, arriving unannounced to the door of an unwelcoming man who had just rolled out of bed and was bleeding quite heavily into a towel on his face. Heck, Gray would have booked it right then and there if it had been him in Juvia's position. Gray sighed, "I'm sorry, Juvia. You caught me at a sorta bad time is all. Here, come in."

"Oh, no no. If it's a bad time, Juvia can just come back later. Mira-san will understand."

 _There's the reason,_ Gray thought, but he said instead, "Nah, it's fine. Come on in. I'd be a pretty bad host if I just rejected you from my doorstep like that. So Mira sent you?"

"Yes," Juvia said, "she said they got a new litter of puppies in and was hoping to match you up with one of them."

"I see," Gray nodded slowly, wondering if he should be happy about that or not. Again, he had to become dependent on a living being, but hey, it's a dog. Can't be that bad. Plus, Mira will know which dog to match him up with. Whatever Mira did about his guide dog aside, there was the issue at hand. "Wait, why did she send you? She could have called me," Gray was highly confused. Mira was the manager and occasional flutist for Fairy Tail, so she would know Juvia from there, but Gray wondered why she sent Juvia on an errand for the Strauss family business.

"Right, Juvia never told Gray-sama this," Juvia said, "Juvia works as a vet for her main job. Mira-san asked Juvia to give those puppies a quick examination since they just came in from the breeder. Juvia had to get the puppies some heartworm medication from the pet store down the street from you, and Mira-san said to bring you along since you lived around here anyway."

"Mira told you to examine her dogs this early on a Saturday morning?" Gray asked incredulously.

"Oh no, Mira-san's not that crazy. Juvia volunteered to go as soon as Mira's office opened."

"So you're the crazy one," Gray stated flatly.

Juvia giggled, "Maybe, but is it so wrong to want to get your work done as soon as possible to you can enjoy your day off?"

"You got me there," Gray shrugged before realizing they were still standing by the door, "Um, let me go get ready. You go make yourself at home." He gestured in the general direction of his living room. The movement jostled the hand holding the towel to his face. Gray hissed in pain as the cloth rubbed ruthlessly against his cut. Instinctively, he pulled the towel away from his face. Blood started dripping down his chin again, and he heard Juvia gasp. A moment later, he felt her hand gently pry the towel out of his hand.

"What happened, Gray-sama?" she asked. Gray could already picture her eyeing the cut in concern. "May I?" she asked tentatively, touching his cheek lightly to specify what she was asking.

"Go ahead. Don't see what else you can do besides put a band-aid on it, though," Gray shrugged nonchalantly, trying to ignore the strange tingling on his skin wherever her fingers fell.

Juvia angled his head toward her and brought her hand up under his chin. Gray ignored the urge to duck away, taking a deep breath to relax himself instead. "Gray-sama, Juvia is a vet. Therefore, there is a lot more she can do besides put a band-aid on your cut. Do you have a first aid kit?" Juvia asked, lightly blotting away some blood before letting him point the way to his bathroom.

Gray directed Juvia to the bathroom where he remembered he had last seen his first aid kit. "Is it there?" he asked.

"Yes, Juvia found it!" Juvia called back, "Gray-sama, go get your razor for me please? Also bring a new one down as well."

Feeling that was a bit of an odd request, Gray said suspiciously, "What for? You're not planning to do surgery on me, are you?"

"Don't be dense," Juvia sighed, "Juvia just needs to make sure you don't need to go to the hospital for an emergency tetanus shot."

Gray could feel a blush rising on his cheeks,, "R-Right. Be right back."

"And bring down some shaving cream as well," the woman added. He grunted back and quickly made his way upstairs to his restroom. Snatching up the shaving devices and his shaving cream, Gray walked back down to be immediately pulled over to his other bathroom by Juvia. As soon as he got inside the doorframe, he felt a piece of gauze get pressed to the cut. She asked for the razors, which Gray handed over with a quick note of which one was the old and new one. Juvia then grabbed Gray's hand and brought it up so it was holding the cloth to his face. She then pulled forward a few steps before turning him around and gently pushing down on his shoulders. "Sit down," she commanded kindly. Gray sat. "Okay, this will sting a little bit, but don't worry, it's just hydrogen peroxide." Gray simply nodded. Juvia was obviously the more knowledgeable out of the two of them.

Juvia cleaned him up in record time and deemed his razor clean enough that he doesn't need a shot. She applied a bandage to the wound before turning on the faucet. "Do you have any clean towels here, Gray-sama?" she asked.

"In the cabinet under the sink. There should be some," he responded. Juvia thanked him and seemingly ran one of the towels under the water. A moment later, she turned back toward him and started dabbing the unshaved half of his face with the wet towel. Gray realized what she was doing and put up a hand to stop her, "Wait, I can do this myself."

Juvia paused for a moment, Gray thought she would argue with him. Most people would, but she just sighed, "Well okay, if you're sure. Be careful to avoid the bandaged area. I'll wait out in the hall." She slipped out of the room, closing the door securely in her wake.

Gray found his razor on the counter and got to shaving. As he fixed up his face, he wondered why Juvia was the only one who seemed to think him capable of doing things on his own. He splashed some water on his cheeks and walked back over to Juvia. "Now that that's done, let's go," he smiled.

"All right!" Juvia cheered, "Trust me, those puppies are the most adorable little guys you will ever meet!"

-:-:-:-

True to Juvia's word, the puppies were impossibly cute. The instant he walked into the playpen and got slobbered on by a trio of Border Collies, Gray was sold. He sat down in the middle of the pen, playing tug-of-war for who knows how long while a giggling Mira watched the interaction. Juvia, unable to resist joining in on the fun, grabbed a few treats and sat down beside Gray. Two of the three dogs went to attack Juvia the moment they smelled the treats. The only one that stayed with Gray was the one he was currently playing tug of war with. After another minute of fruitless tugging, Gray released the toy and surrendered. Even when freed to chow down on treats with her siblings, that one puppy (Gray thinks Mira said her name was Fluffy. He'd have to change that.) refused to leave Gray's side, choosing instead to lean against his leg and quietly chew on her hard-earned toy.

"She really likes you," Juvia observed as one of the puppies jumped up on her, searching for more treats. Juvia squealed in surprise, turning her attention to the dog, and said sternly, "No, bad boy. If you want a treat, you have to do your trick. Okay, sit… sit! Good boy!" She fed the hyper puppy the treat before continuing where she left off, "That puppy is very loyal to you already. I can tell."

"I have to agree," Mira interjected, "Most puppies will drop everything to go after a treat, but as you probably noticed, this little one stayed with you. That's very rare and a very good sign. She'll be a very good guide dog when she gets older."

"That puppy is a man!" Mira's younger brother Elfman yelled from a nearby storage closet.

"Elf-niichan," Lisanna, the third Strauss sibling, sighed from the front desk, "Fluffy is neither human nor a male. I wonder if you understand what comes out of your mouth most of the time."

"My my," Mira laughed, "Lisanna, be nice to Elfman. He has a different definition of the word than you. And Elfman, try to think about what you're saying sometimes as well, please."

"Yeah, yeah," the younger siblings mumbled.

"Gray, I will sign you up for that little puppy right here, unless you don't want me to. But I think you are very well-suited for each other," Mira said, walking over to Lisanna for the paperwork. Gray nodded and ran his fingers through the dog's soft fur. "Okay, then it's all set. She will be able to go home with you in just a few weeks. I will call you when the time comes. You will be very active in her training, but we will get to that when the time comes. Well then, Strauss' Guide Dogs appreciates your business."

Gray snorted, "Thanks, Mira."

Juvia giggled. As she watched Gray go back to playing with his newfound friend, she acknowledged the man's progress away from the self-pitying stage he had been in for the past months. Juvia believed this dog would be the key to getting him back onto the road to life. It might not seem like it, but the baby steps were coming, and Gray would be up walking in no time.

* * *

 **Okay! We're done for the chapter! This was the longer side, so hopefully it will hold you guys until the next update. If you've got any feedback, comments, suggestions, please don't hesitate to throw me a review! Thanks again for all your support!**


	3. Movements

**Hello all! Sorry for the long wait, but here we are with the next chapter right in time for the holidays! A huge thank you to my wonderful readers. Your support really means a lot. Now, please enjoy and leave me a review if you're feeling up to it! Happy holidays!**

 **Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

 **Movements**

* * *

Scherzando

-:-

 _{A mood indicator meaning "playfully"}_

-:-

"Okay, Gray-sama. Are you ready?" Juvia asked as soon as Gray opened the front door.

He blinked in confusion, "Um, ready for what?"

"Has Gray-sama forgotten already?" Juvia huffed, "The puppy! Today is the day Mira-san will let you take her home! Now, let's go!" Gray didn't have time to process exactly what was happening or to decide if he wanted to protest before he found himself ushered out of his house and strapped into Juvia's car. It seemed the woman was more excited than he was about picking up his dog. "Have you come up with a name for her yet?" Juvia asked as she started the car.

"No, not yet," Gray muttered.

"What? Gray-sama, were you just going to call the poor puppy "Dog" for the rest of her life?"

"Pretty much," he shrugged flippantly.

Juvia gasped in horror, "No! Juvia will not allow it. If you don't have a name picked out for that dog by the time we get to Mira's, Juvia will… Juvia will…"

Gray snorted, "Juvia will what?"

"Juvia will not help you train your dog," the woman decided.

Gray just snorted again, "Doesn't matter. Mira can help me."

Juvia spluttered incredulously, "Mira-san will not help you!"

"Oh, and how would you know?" Cue eyebrow lift.

Juvia could feel her irritation building, "Because Juvia will make Mira-san promise not to! Gray-sama is so irresponsible. He can't even be bothered to come up with a name for his new companion. Why, Juvia should-!"

"Ok, ok, calm down Juvia," Gray raised his hands in surrender, cutting off an impending rant, "I was just kidding."

"Just kidding? Gray-sama was just kidding," Juvia stopped short.

"Just. Kidding," Gray laughed, "You are so easy to mess with someti-ow!" He grabbed his arm where Juvia had none-too-gently punched him, "Now that's just mean."

"Gray-sama was mean first," Juvia pointed out.

"I… Ok, fair enough. So how does Luna sound?" At Juvia's silence, Gray chuckled nervously, "You did ask if I had decided on a name, right? I thought Luna sounded pretty."

Juvia snapped out of whatever shock she had gone into and quickly reassured him, "Oh yes! Luna's a wonderful name! Juvia is impressed. She didn't think Gray-sama had it in him to think up a good name. She thought she was going to have to name the dog herself."

"Ouch, give me some credit, will ya?" Gray scoffed, "Natsu's the one who can't think of a better name for a pet than Happy, not me." Juvia's mind flashed back to work the week before when the fish-loving Russian Blue/Maine Coon mix and his loud owner had walked into her office for an annual checkup. As in previous years, Juvia could find nothing wrong with the cat besides an abnormal love of fish.

Shrugging, Juvia just said, "Happy is a lovely name. By the way, that reminds me. Natsu-san and Lucy's wedding is in two months. Natsu-san said that he would be stopping by your house sometime to deliver the invitation."

"Got it already," Gray said, "The man came by three days ago with a wedding invitation and a request that I be his best man."

"Please tell me that you accepted," Juvia interrupted worriedly.

"I must say I am slightly offended that you think so lowly of me," the dark-haired man smirked jokingly, "But yes, I decided to be a good friend and said yes. As much as I loath to say this, I hope the Flame Brain will be my best man at my wedding. It's only right that I am best man at his."

"Aw, so Gray-sama _can_ be sweet!" Juvia gushed playfully.

"I am not _sweet_ ," the man spat the word out like it was poison.

"Juvia thinks you are," Juvia teased before suddenly becoming strangely nervous and reserved, "So who's the future Mrs. Fullbuster?"

Gray spluttered for a full minute before he choked out, "I-I haven't d-decided. Sheesh, what k-kind of question is th-that, woman?"

"Gray-sama mentioned it, and Juvia was curious," Juvia said with obviously fake nonchalance. Gray almost asked her about it, but chose not to at the last moment, deciding he really didn't want to know. Nor did he particularly wish to be embarrassed even further if he happened to have incorrectly assessed the situation.

Instead, he crossed his arms and snorted, "It must be Bully Gray Day or something."

"That it is," Juvia nodded matter-of-factly. Gray groaned, but the woman ignored him and giggled, "We're here! Gray-sama, get out. Come on! Juvia's so excited!"

"Excited for what?" Gray sighed exasperatedly, wondering which Juvia he should prefer more: mischievous or dog-obsessed, "It's just a dog."

Juvia just let out a long-suffering sigh and replied, "Oh, Gray-sama, one day you will understand."

-:-:-:-

By the time Juvia turned the corner back onto Gray's street, she was almost bouncing up and down with excitement. The newly-dubbed Luna seemed to be in equally high spirits, licking Gray's face (much to his chagrin), wagging her tail, and squirming around on Gray's lap. Juvia had spent less than an hour with this puppy, but she had already fallen for the black-and-white furball's charm. Pulling into Gray's driveway, Juvia immediately noticed something a bit odd, "Hm, strange."

"Ugh, stop licking me! It's so gross," Gray whined, "What is it, Juvia?"

"There is an unfamiliar car parked in your driveway. Do you know somebody who owns a silver sports car? Oh my, it looks very expensive."

Gray felt a sinking feeling in his stomach and groaned in annoyance, "Please tell me it's not a Lamborghini."

"Um, well, Juvia would be lying if she told you that," Juvia said, "What's wrong? Do you know the owner?"

"Oh yeah, I know the owner all right. He was here just last week... Don't worry about it, he's allowed to be here, as much as I hate it. Let's just get this stuff moved in, shall we?"

Juvia hummed in agreement and grabbed Luna's leash. Gray got the box with all of Luna's necessities in it and allowed Juvia to guide him to his front door. After fumbling around with his keys for a moment, Gray managed to wrestle his door open, and they stepped inside. Juvia barely made it three steps into the house before a handsome older man with an uncanny resemblance to Gray stepped into the hall and boomed, "Son, you're back! And you brought home a beautiful girl and an adorable dog! My, do you know how to make your old dad proud."

Juvia blushed and started stammering something nervously, but Gray just nudged her with an exasperated shake of his head and snorted, "What are you doing here, old man?"

"Ouch, tough crowd," the person who Juvia concluded to be Gray's father sighed, throwing an exaggerated wink in her direction. Juvia smiled; she was liking Gray's father already. When Gray remained in a frosty silence, Fullbuster Senior continued, "It's great to see you too, son. Oh, how am I, you ask? Wonderful. How 'bout you?" At Gray's continued silence, he snorted, "Well, if you must know, I have come, out of the kindness of my heart, to help you raise that puppy of yours until she is old enough to start guide dog training. You know, puppies don't start that until they're a year old, and raising a pup is no easy task. I would know, considering I raised you."

Gray looked like he would start banging his head on the nearest wall if his father made one more embarrassing comment about him. A giggle escaped from Juvia, drawing the older Fullbuster's attention away from Gray. "Ah, my apologies, I got too caught up in my one-sided conversation with my son. The name's Silver Fullbuster, and who might you be, young lady?"

"Juvia Lockser," Juvia replied with a smile, "It's very nice to meet you." She extended a hand.

Silver shook it and grinned as well, "Ah, if it's not the great Juvia Lockser I've heard so much about." He stepped back and winked, "I must say, I haven't seen Gray so smitten with anyone since, well, ever. He rarely stops talking about you."

Juvia blushed a deep red and stuttered, "O-Oh, does h-he?"

"Stop lying, old man," Gray groaned.

"Lying? Why would I be doing that?" Silver asked, "I was stating a fact. I mean, just last night, I called you, and you spent a solid twenty minutes talking about how Miss Lockser would be coming over today."

"I was talking about how she would be coming with me to _pick up my dog_ today," Gray all but snarled, "By the way, when are you going to actually interact with Luna and stop embarrassing me?"

Silver just laughed at his son's hostility, finding it all quite amusing. He turned to the puppy who had been sniffing quietly at his shoes as the humans were talking. Bending down, he let Luna sniff his fingers and lick him excitedly while he scratched her behind the ears. Silver laughed; he'd always been a dog person. "So, Luna is it?" he asked, glancing up at Juvia, who was still slightly red from the earlier teasing, "Can I assume it was you who came up with the name, and not my son?"

Juvia's eyes widened, "Oh, no! Gray named her all on his own. Juvia was quite astonished as well."

Silver guffawed at the blunt honesty, "I'll bet. Nice job, Gray. Who knew you had it in you?" The elder Fullbuster watched in amusement as his son's scowl deepened and he stomped away with Luna's dog crate.

"I'll be unpacking Luna's stuff," Gray grunted as he walked purposefully out of the living room to avoid more teasing. Juvia giggled at Gray's immature behavior, having never seen him quite so flustered before, before she called after his retreating back, "Gray-sama, would you like Juvia to help with anything?"

"No, thanks. I've got it,," Gray responded stiffly, "But I would be eternally grateful if you would just stay there and keep the old man occupied." Silver's head whipped up when he was addressed as "old man," and he let out an indignant, "Hey, I'm only fifty!" Juvia giggled again and sat down across from Silver, who returned to petting Luna.

"So Juvia, I hear you are an exceptionally talented violinist," Silver said, looking up at Juvia with a grin, "I'd love to hear you play sometime."

Juvia blushed for the third time that hour and said, "Oh, thank you. But Juvia isn't as good as Silver-sama seems to think she is."

"Nonsense!" Silver boomed heartily, "I didn't arrive at that conclusion completely from Gray's biased opinion, you know. No, when I heard him going on about how good a player you were, I just had to learn more about the musician who could make Gray of all people appreciate music. I must say, you are an extremely accomplished musician, if your profile on Fairy Tail's website was anything to go by."

"Um, thank you, Silver-sama," Juvia said, unsure exactly how to respond, "But Juvia always looked more impressive on paper. She still has a long way to go if she wants to be as good as some of the other members of Fairy Tail."

"Stop being so humble," Silver chided, "I listened to a few of Fairy Tail's recordings too. Trust me, I've done my homework. You are as good as your resume makes you out to be, and much better, in my opinion. I trust that I know a good musician when I hear one. I was a mighty fine trombonist in my day, you know."

"Who did you play for, if you don't mind my asking?" Juvia asked, her curiosity piqued. Meeting and learning about other musicians always excited her.

"Hmm, let's see," Silver leaned back, "I played for Fairy Tail for a while, if you can believe it. But that was before you were even born. I met Gray's mother during that time." Here, Silver adopted a rather wistful look before he shook himself out of it and continued, "After that, I played for the Tartaros Symphony for a while, but the people there just were unpleasant, and it involved a lot of moving, so I quit. I was married by that point, so I settled back down in Magnolia, got a desk job, and started focusing on my family. After all, there's nothing more important than my family for me."

Juvia nodded in agreement. Before she could so much as open her mouth, however, there was a _clang_ and a curse that resonated through the kitchen. Jumping up in shock, both Juvia and Silver sprinted over to find a most amusing sight. Gray was sprawled on the floor, covered in puppy food, as Luna happily munched her food out of his hair. Juvia tried to smother her laughter behind her hand to help preserve a bit of Gray's pride, but Silver had no such reservations. He laughed until he was gasping for breath, and, to add insult to injury, he took a picture of the scene to send to the whole family. Gray was distinctly unamused.

"A picture, Dad?" He grouched, "Is that really necessary?"

"Oh yes," Silver snickered, "I haven't seen you do something this funny since I found you hiding in the performing arts center's elevator after you and Natsu broke Erza's cello. Fun times, though my checkbook might disagree. Her new cello cost a fortune!"

Juvia finally couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a giggle. Gray looked betrayed as he whined, "You too, Juvia? How could you?"

"S-sorry Gray-sama!" Juvia choked out, "You're just too ridiculous."

"I'll show you ridiculous!" Gray yelled in mock anger as he stood up and pulled out a handful of the canned dog food still stuck in his hair. He started advancing toward Juvia, wielding his weapon threateningly. Juvia yelped when she realized what he was about to do.

Backing away, Juvia was about to make a break for it, when Silver cut in with a chuckle, "Alright, alright. Break it up, children."

"Children? Oh you're one to talk, old man," Gray snorted, "Who's the one who finds his son's misfortune oh-so hilarious? Then takes a picture to send to the rest of the family?"

Silver grinned innocently, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Now go get cleaned up. I want you to try on a tux I got you for Natsu and Lucy's wedding. It's coming up in a few weeks, isn't it?"

"More like two months," Gray muttered, but he obeyed his father's orders without further objection.

Juvia watched him stomp upstairs in amusement before glancing back over at the mess in the kitchen. She moved to go wipe down the floors, but Silver waved her away, "No, no, Juvia. You're the guest. Why don't you play with Luna, while I clean up here."

"Are you sure? Juvia can help. It's not a problem," Juvia protested, but Silver was having none of it. Giving up, Juvia led Luna out to the living room. Looking down, she saw the Border Collie puppy looking at her innocently, and Juvia giggled, "You're truly are really cute, you know? Just like your owner." Luna's response was to roll over and invite Juvia to give her a belly rub. Juvia simply giggled and complied.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Silver had paused in his cleaning and overheard their little conversation. Smiling widely as his speculations about Juvia's and Gray's relationship were proven correct, Silver thought happily, _I approve of your choice, Gray._

* * *

Con Amore

-:-

 _{_ _A mood indicator meaning "lovingly"}_

-:-

Gray fiddled uncomfortably with the cuff of his sleeve. The tuxedo that Erza had stuffed him unceremoniously into was slowly smothering him to death. The only thing keeping him from sneaking out of his best friend's wedding reception to go strip was the excitable Juvia. She was clutching Gray's hand so tightly that his fingers had gone numb ages ago. He was about to protest, but she was too busy dragging him from place to place to notice. Resistance was futile.

They eventually came to a halt before the radiant bride and groom. Gray could just imagine how beautiful Lucy looked in her wedding dress and how admittedly dashing Natsu was in his tux. As best man, Gray had spent much more time than he'd have liked listening to Natsu delve excessively into every aspect of the wedding. Heck, Gray could recite the color of the napkins at each table if need be. For some strange reason unknown to man, Natsu had decided to host his wedding at the performing arts center, then proceeded to invite every member of Fairy Tail, on top of the couple's other friends. In the end, the number of attendees topped out at a whopping three hundred people. Gray didn't remember Natsu and Lucy being quite this popular.

Clapping his best friend's shoulder, Gray laughed, "How you managed to get Lucy to fall in love with you, we'll never know. But you got lucky, so don't let go, got it? Good luck, Lucy. You're gonna need it in order to spend eternity with this whacko."

"Oh trust me, I know," Natsu snorted, "And the world will end before I ever think of letting go." Gray heard Lucy 'aww' and sniffle a little before she undoubtedly gave her new husband a kiss. Knowing the two wouldn't be surfacing for air anytime soon, Gray let Juvia tug him back into the sea of guests. Thankfully, they didn't go back to mingling, as he had no clue how much more of that he could take. Instead, they found a relatively secluded table and sat down.

"Juvia figured you might be getting a bit tired of socializing," Juvia piped up before Gray was given the task of scrambling for a topic of conversation. He was eternally grateful for the woman's talkative nature at times.

"Hit the nail right on the head with that one," Gray sighed, "I love spending time with you guys, really I do. But you're all social butterflies, and I can't keep up half the time."

Juvia giggled, "Well, here's a secret. Juvia is dead tired too. It wasn't completely for altruism's sake that Juvia agreed to find an isolated table."

Gray's eyebrows shot up, "You? Tired? I was beginning to think you were the most social of the bunch!"

"Gray-sama has got to be kidding," Juvia snorted in quite an unladylike fashion, "Juvia can't stand gatherings like this. It takes too much energy to keep up the pleasantries. And don't get me started on small talk."

Gray let out a bark of laughter, "Well what do you know. I think I can still be friends with you after all." He winked to let her know he wasn't being very serious before continuing, "How about we make our great escape and go get some cheap fast food?"

"Juvia would love to, but she does not want to die today. Erza-san would have our heads."

"Good point," Gray conceded. They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Occasionally, Juvia would giggle, and Gray would look over curiously. Juvia would then have to explain through her laughter how Natsu stepped on Lucy's foot (which explained why Gray could hear the groom apologizing while the bride yelped in pain) or how Gajeel was failing at nonchalantly asking Levy McGarden to dance. Gray laughed at the mental images, and he was shocked once again by how freely he could enjoy himself around Juvia. He felt completely normal around her, more so than he felt around most of his other friends. It was in that time, just sitting there and chatting with Juvia, that he began to really notice the odd, happy little blip of his heart whenever Juvia laughed. The sensation doubled in strength whenever he was the one to make her laugh. Gray furrowed his brow, trying to remember when he had felt that sensation before. It was a familiar feeling. He just hadn't noticed until just now, but he still couldn't place it. Deciding to ponder it later, Gray returned to his conversation with Juvia, smiling when she giggled once more at something stupid he was unaware he'd said.

However, as the songs got progressively slower, Gray could tell Juvia was getting a bit restless. Her fingers were tapping nonstop, and she was fidgeting in her seat. "Is everything all right?" Gray asked in concern. He had never pegged Juvia as the nervous type. Shy, maybe, but not nervous. He wondered what could be the matter.

"Hmm?" Juvia replied distractedly. In the time he had known her, Gray had never heard her use that tone of voice before.

"Juvia, what's bothering you?" He repeated.

"O-oh, it's nothing, Gray-sama," Juvia stammered this time. Now Gray knew something was up. He would have to be stupid to believe someone who tells him that nothing is wrong like that.

"No, it's obviously not nothing. Can you tell me, so I can help you?" Gray paused, trying to pinpoint something going on around them that could cause her to act the way she was. He didn't know the time, but he assumed it was getting late. He probed, "Are you sleepy? Do you want to go home?"

"Gray-sama, it's only 11:30. What kind of bridesmaid would Juvia be if she dared get tired and leave before one in the morning?" Juvia giggled slightly.

"A pretty bad one, I'd guess," Gray chuckled, but he returned to his game of "Guess Why Juvia's Acting Strange."

He heard the steady clinking of glasses. Did she want something to drink, maybe? He remembered a waiter had come by offering drinks, and if he remembered correctly, Juvia had gotten one. "Do you want another drink?" he guessed.

Gray could almost hear the eye-roll Juvia gave him as she sighed, "Nothing is bothering Juvia. Please stop guessing."

"No, I don't think I will," Gray snorted with a wink, "You see, there's a defining trait within the Fullbuster family, and it's not what you think it is. Sure, our dashing good looks could count, but you've got a select few who were… more modestly gifted in that respect. Take Lyon, for instance. I showed you a picture of him once, right?" Juvia giggled, remembering the white-haired man's photo that Gray had pulled out of his wallet once. She wasn't about to say anything, but she felt Lyon-san was quite good-looking as well. Though, in her biased viewpoint, she still thought Gray more handsome. Gray continued, his smirk widening, "No, it's not the good looks, even though those take a close second. The Fullbuster family treasure is actually our extreme stubbornness. So no, I will not stop pestering you."

Juvia opened her mouth to object once more, but seeing the determined set of Gray's mouth, she thought better. Juvia sighed, "Fine, Juvia will tell you. Th-there are a lot of people here…"

"Yes?" Gray said slowly, not quite sure where this was going, "Isn't that obvious?"

"Let Juvia finish!" Juvia huffed before continuing, "Anyway, those people are all getting up to do something, and…"

"You want to join," Gray finished.

"W-well, yes."

"Juvia, you can do whatever you want. I don't want to hold you back," Gray said, frowning a little when he realized he had probably been the reason Juvia hadn't been enjoying herself the whole night.

Juvia gasped, "No! Gray-sama is mistaken. Juvia knows she can do whatever, but she sort of needs a friend for this particular task, and she was hoping Gray-sama would be that friend…" She trailed away awkwardly.

Gray was, if anything, even more confused, "Uh, what task? What are you talking about?"

Juvia groaned in frustration, "Good grief, Gray-sama! Juvia is asking you to dance!" A split-second later, she realized she had blurted her invitation out loud and gasped in embarrassment. However, she didn't regret her actions. It was Gray's own fault he was so dense.

A flurry of emotions slammed into Gray at Juvia's order: doubt, fear, confusion. Doubt in his naturally nonexistent dance abilities. Fear that any hesitation would disappoint Juvia and make her see that he really was not worth her time. Confusion as to why his heart still raced with anticipation for the chance to dance with Juvia. Finally, his features settled into a mask of cool indifference. There was an agonizing silence between them, then…

"I don't and can't dance," Gray stated bluntly.

He sat down with a huff and crossed his arms like a petulant child. What he wasn't banking on was Juvia's persistence. She grabbed his hand and pulled with all her might. Gray could do nothing but stand up, but his unhappy frown remained etched into his face. "As if Juvia is going to believe that," Juvia giggled.

"But I really can't dance," Gray argued.

He realized that was the response Juvia had wanted because a moment later, he heard her giggle louder and reply, "Then Juvia will have to teach Gray-sama. What better way than by learning on the job?" She was probably smirking as she dragged Gray away from the table. However, realizing the woman was about to drag him smack dab into the public eye, Gray dug his heels into the ground.

Juvia stopped her tugging after a moment and took a real look at her companion. He was pale, paler than usual, and his eyes were wide with panic. Juvia instantly regretted being so pushy and gently guided Gray back to the table. "I-I'm sorry," she said as soon as they were resituated in their seats, "Juvia didn't know you had such an aversion to dancing."

Hearing the understanding apology, Gray felt an odd swooping sensation in his stomach, but the feeling quickly turned into the unpleasant churning of guilt. He could tell that Juvia had wanted to dance really badly. She had danced a few times earlier that night, out of friendly obligation to the groom and sisterly love for Gajeel. However, those dances had been few and far between, and she had returned to their table as soon as the songs ended. Gray, for his part, could have believed she had simply been gone to get drinks if she hadn't mentioned her intention beforehand. Now, though, Juvia was asking _him_ to dance, and the matter became completely different.

Suddenly, Gray shot up to his feet, almost sending the table flying. Juvia let out a startled squeak, "Gr-Gray-sama! What are you doing?" Her confusion grew as she noticed the slight smirk on the man's face.

"Hey Juvia, can you take us to an empty practice room near here?" He asked casually.

"Why? Do you need an instrument for something?" Juvia asked apprehensively.

"Not exactly. Don't worry. You're gonna like what I have planned," Gray smiled reassuringly. Juvia was still a little hesitant, but she complied with Gray's wish and led them out to the hall. "What part of the performing arts center are we in right now?" He asked after a moment of silence.

"We just passed the utility room around the corner from the banquet hall," Juvia said, checking the label on the nearest door, "Ah, here's an empty choir room." She tugged Gray in and was about to close the door, but Gray stopped her.

"Wait, don't close the door. I want to hear the music, if that's all right."

"Of course," Juvia replied and steered Gray over to one of the chairs on the bleachers that wrapped around the room.

"Are we in room 107 right now?" Gray suddenly asked.

Juvia's eyes widened in surprise, and she asked Gray incredulously, "How did Gray-sama know that?"

He chuckled, "Because Natsu and I used to play hide-and-seek, and subsequently get into brawls, a lot here as kids. I carpooled with Natsu for ages, and I ended up coming along for his saxophone lessons here. Drove Gramps up the wall having two bratty seven-year-olds interrupt his practices every week.

"When Natsu joined the youth symphony in middle school, I still carpooled with him. I had a lot of free time to explore, so…" He spread his arms out around him and adopted a sheepish grin.

Juvia giggled. They lapsed into companionable silence once more, enjoying the ending strains of John Legend's "All of Me" drifting in from the ballroom. A minute later, the next song began to play, and Gray subconsciously straightened. He recognized the song as "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. When Juvia leaned against his shoulder with a happy "aw" and started humming along to the song, Gray knew it was now or never. Coughing nervously, he stood up and turned to face a confused Juvia. Bowing, he extended a hand to her and asked, "May I have this dance, milady?" He heard Juvia's sharp intake of breath, and he could only hope it was one of delight.

After a moment, Juvia, obviously shocked at actually being asked to dance by Gray, let out a happy laugh and said, "Of course," before adding jokingly, "my prince." A huge smile spread across Gray's face as he straightened. He felt Juvia tentatively guide his hands to her waist, then place her own hands on his shoulders. A strange, though not unpleasant, warmth filled Gray's chest as he swayed slowly to the music, enjoying just being there with Juvia in his arms.

 _-:-_

" _I don't quite know_

 _How to say_

 _How I feel._

 _Those three words_

 _Are said too much._

 _They're not enough."_

 _-:-_

They danced in silence, content with having the music wash over their ears. As the song continued, Gray registered Juvia hesitantly rest her head on his chest. His heart did that strange flip again, and he subconsciously pulled her closer.

 _-:-_

" _If I lay here,_

 _If I just lay here,_

 _Would you lie with me and just forget the world?"_

 _-:-_

The world seemed to melt away as he danced there with Juvia. All his worries, fears, and insecurities evaporated like water on a hot summer's day. The only thing he was aware of was Juvia in his arms and the steady pounding of his own heart. He only vaguely registered the next few verses of the song.

 _-:-_

" _Forget what we're told_

 _Before we get too old._

 _Show me a garden that's bursting into life._

 _Let's waste time_

 _Chasing cars_

 _Around our heads._

 _I need your grace_

 _To remind me_

 _To find my own."_

 _-:-_

Gray's heart skipped a beat as he felt Juvia lift her head up and smoothed back a few rebellious strands of his hair. She paused, seemingly debating with herself over her next move. Gray's heart sank a little as the pause dragged out a few more beats, but it soared as Juvia returned to their slow dancing once more. Suddenly, he felt her raise a hand and gently lay it against his jaw, smoothing her thumb over his cheekbone. Gray resisted the urge to jerk away after the initial surprise and found himself leaning into the touch. It was strange. He had never felt this comfortable with anyone in his life, let alone after his accident. Suddenly Juvia just appeared and brought his out-of-control life to a screeching halt. And Gray was strangely okay with it.

 _-:-_

"All that I am

All that I ever was

Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see.

I don't know where

Confused about how as well

Just know that these things will never change for us at all.

If I lay here

If I just lay here

Would you lie with me and just forget the world?"

-:-

As if pulled by an invisible force, Gray's head slowly dipped lower. He could feel Juvia's exhale of air puff against his nose. They were so close that if Gray were in his right mind, he would have bailed long ago and avoided her for a month. But obviously, he wasn't. He figured he must have gone mad. If he hadn't, why was his heart beating so hard in his chest? Why was he feeling so happy and content just with Juvia there? Why was he feeling anything at all? Time seemed to slow down. Gray could sense Juvia getting closer to him as well. They were literally nose-to-nose.

 _Bang!_

The crash of the practice room door against the wall forced Gray and Juvia back to reality. They jumped away from each other as though burned and turned toward the intruder. Gray was furious. Whoever had interrupted them had better have had a good reason.

"Wha-? Oh, I'm sorry, I was heading to the restroom and saw the lights on in here." It was Erza. "Did I interrupt something?"

* * *

 **Oh, I am evil :). There it is! End of a new chapter. Whatever will happen next? On a side note, I had forgotten how much I loved "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol until I wrote this chapter. If you've never heard it, go listen to it now! Anyway, hope you liked this chapter! See you guys next time, and have a wonderful holiday!**


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